"moving on to a positive future"

People appear to have voted with spite instead of sense

Do you see the grass so green and fair, young maidens skipping, hair blowing in the air? No? Me neither, nor did I expect to.

On Thursday the country went out ballot paper in hand like a weapon of political destruction to take aim at the conservatives and years of austerity, eh wait a minute is that not May 5th? Comes around every five years, happened last month? Ladies and Gentlemen we got the wrong day.

As the cataclysm of Brexit began to hit home some Bregretters did what they should have weeks ago and googled “what is the EU”, others called the voting office hoping they could change their vote as the rest sat having champagne and kippers for breakfast, all the while those of us who voted to stay sit in the upper gallery looking down on some warped version of Alice in wonderland, wondering what in felicia just happened.

Years of mounting frustration at austerity, lack of opportunity and feeling short changed burst out of the political closet to be taking out on a establishment that had absolutely nothing to do with these matters, that’s what just happened.

While some In voters begin to wonder what next for the Union as Scotland put another Independence Referendum on the table, some are left wondering how our concerns will be addressed as we go forward in the process of leaving. As an organisation which represents an issue that does not recognise political uncertainty we have many concerns with our immediate one being, “how much work will we get politicians to do on matters such as PrEP during this period of upheaval and transition?”, proceeded by concerns for rural services. The EU was such an integral investor in rural areas, with this funding soon to stop we hope when the time comes for more local authority cutbacks, HIV and Sexual Health services will not suffer as they already have.

We will continue to lobby politicians with our ongoing agenda as well as these new concerns raised by Brexit, though with extra vigour just as a reminder that issues surrounding HIV still need to be addressed, that we assure the community.

As broken pieces are put back together questions are asked about where the responsibility of this decision lays, quite simply and perhaps harshly, it lays with those who voted with spite instead of sense. The Leave Campaign may have spouted lies regarding money they would give the NHS but the other side counteracted this saying it was not possible, the In Campaign may have left out vital information but this was available on Google before the 24th of June as so many of us found when we researched and cast our vote based on an informed decision, if we are going to question anything it should be why this was put to the electorate in the first place. That being said, the people of a democratic society have spoke with the majority choosing to leave the EU, that decision, if final, must be respected by both the Stay campaign and the remaining 27 members of the union, this is not a time for pettiness it is a time to get on with it.